Amy Liu 2024 CEW Visionary Award Honoree

Tower 28 founder Amy Liu named her company after a lifeguard tower at the intersection of the Santa Monica pier and Venice Beach. “I grew up in Los Angeles and the beach is a place of community, where everybody gets to enjoy a clean, healthy lifestyle. Not to mention that a lifeguard is quite literally a symbol of safety,” says Liu. “I wanted the brand to represent all of that.”

Liu’s parents immigrated to the States from Taiwan, and she and her brother and sister are first-generation American citizens. “When I started my career, I didn’t see people who looked like me in anything that was aspirational in the beauty industry. A lot has changed in the 20 years since then, and I’m really inspired by that. This is why I believe so much in collaboration over competition, because if we can help each other, that’s what’s going to continue to change things.”

Rewind to 2002, when Liu was in her second year in business school at USC. She got a job working for Smashbox Cosmetics as Director for International Marketing when the makeup company was still an up-and-coming indie brand. In 2007, Liu went to Kate Somerville, bringing the spa skin care brand into retail for the first time. “This entire time I wanted to do something entrepreneurial, but I wanted to keep learning on someone else’s dime, and see how running a business is done.” In 2011, she became the first VP of Marketing at Josie Maran Cosmetics. “During the three and a half years I was there, we went from doing $3 million to $50 million, so it was a pretty fast and fun ride. I learned a lot in that time and understood more clearly what it was like to be a founder. I also gained so many resources and friends along the way.” Soon after, Liu started consulting (for indie brands like Jouer, Lime Crime, and Marula Oil) and she also she started a family. “When my youngest child started preschool, I met with a friend from business school about what I should do next. He turned out to be our lead investor in Tower 28, and I started raising money to get the business off the ground.”

The genesis of Tower 28, which launched in 2019, started with Liu’s personal skin care needs. “I’ve had eczema my entire adult life, so I understand what it’s like to have troubled skin. I wanted to wear makeup, but I didn’t want to make my skin worse. I wanted high performance products that were not only clean and safe for sensitive skin, but also affordably priced.” At the time, this was a disruptive idea, but Liu doesn’t see it that way. “I actually don’t resonate with the word ‘disruptive,’ because it makes it feel like you’re doing something trend focused and I don’t think that’s what we’ve done. I found a white space based on my own authentic needs as a consumer.”

After working for female founders in the industry, finally becoming one herself proved challenging. “I was always more comfortable being in the background and telling someone else’s story, but telling my own was a little harder. I’m not an influencer and it’s taken me some time to find my voice as a founder,” Liu says. “As Tower 28 has grown, I’ve become aware that I do have some influence, and a responsibility to help other people find their voices in this industry.” She started Clean Beauty Summer School (CBSS) to do just that. The 10-week program provides education and mentorship to help accelerate BIPOC-owned, small, clean beauty businesses. “When we started, we didn’t have the funds to give out grants, so I reached out to my community of beauty executives, founders and leaders, asking them to share their knowledge about finance, brand building, marketing, and networking. This is an industry that’s notoriously closed and hard to understand from the outside, so the goal is to help each other and create a stronger, more inclusive community.” Now in its fifth year, the 10 CBSS finalists will have the opportunity to pitch for $35,000 cash grants, legal and retail sales support, and guaranteed buyer meetings with retail giants like Sephora, Ulta, Thirteen Lune, and Credo Beauty.

As Tower 28 grows, so does its philanthropic footprint. “By the end of this year, we will be in all Sephora stores,” says Liu. “In terms of topline sales, we are set to double and as part of that, we’re amping up our philanthropic efforts with CBSS, and our work with nonprofits like Heal the Bay.” (Tower 28 is a longtime partner and donor to the LA-based environmental group that cleans up beaches and protects the California coastline.) The company also collaborates with Defy Ventures, an organization that goes to prisons around the country and teaches inmates to prepare for life on the outside, giving them the skills and resources to rebuild their lives.

For Liu, community is a winning value proposition. “At Tower 28, we like to say that our products are good, clean fun, and bringing people together is part of that.” It makes perfect sense that her brand is named for a meeting place for all kinds of people. “The beauty business has been the sorority of my adult life,” says Liu. “I’ve made a lot of friends through this industry, and I realize that finding your network is invaluable. There’s been nothing more instrumental in my career journey than having that community.”

Behind (almost) every beauty executive is a fun, creative, thoughtful person. To get to know our 2024 Visionary Award Honorees better, we put together a scaled down, professional version of The Proust Questionnaire, a list of questions popularized by French essayist Marcel Proust that’s believed to bring out an individual’s true nature. Here, Liu takes the quiz.

CEW: Thanks for agreeing to participate, Amy. Let’s begin as we find out who you really are. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

AL: My friends, family, good people, and good times.

CEW: What is your greatest fear?

AL: I really don’t like bugs.

CEW: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

AL: I’m really forgetful and I can be quite impatient.

CEW: Which living person do you most admire?

AL: It sounds so cheesy, but it’s my husband. He’s honestly the best person I know.

CEW: What is your greatest extravagance?

AL: I get my nails done whenever I want.

CEW: What is your current state of mind?

AL: Content and happy.

CEW: What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

AL: Perseverance, in the sense that sometimes it’s okay to quit and change course. One of the best things I did was to quit my job and go out on my own.

CEW: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

AL: My team would say, “Did we squeeze the juice?” which means did we get all the benefit out of doing something.

CEW: Which talent would you most like to have?

AL: I wish I could freeze time.

CEW: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

AL: Learning not to take things personally.

CEW: What do you consider your greatest achievement?

AL: My family.

CEW: If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

AL: My dog, Luigi. He has a nice life.

CEW: What is your most treasured possession?

AL: My engagement ring.